Thanatophobia
by sweetie0704
Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester join forces with two hunters in order to solve a string of mysterious deaths before it can claim their own lives. But one of the new hunters has a secret of her own.
1. Chapter 1

Thanatophobia

**Disclaimer: Sam and Dean Winchester as well as the Supernatural universe and various other characters were not created by me. They belong to Eric Kripke and the CW. I am merely using them to tell my story that has been in my head for awhile. However, the characters Riley Cadence and Kale Magnum were created and written by me. Most places referenced are fictional.**

**Thanatophobia**

_When your worst nightmares can kill you._

_**Ch 1. Visions and Vampires**_

She could hear it behind her. Gaining. Her chest burned, legs ached and it stung where the dead branches whipped across her exposed flesh. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She had to get back. No matter what it took, she had to get back.

She hadn't expected the creature's surprise attack. This one was much smarter than the others had been. _That doesn't matter_, she thought_, it will still end up the same way as the others did once I get back_. She held her left arm in front of her face as she pushed back the leafless branch that hung in her way. She'd found her way back to the worn path she'd strayed from when she'd first heard the creature. Her long hair caught in the branches but she couldn't risk stopping. She turned north on the path towards the light coming in from the full moon and continued running. Streams of moonlight shone through the thick canopy above adding to the eerie feeling of the woods. The dead leaves and fallen twigs crunched and broke under her weight. It was the only sound she could hear aside from her quick, even breaths. _I could get back to the clearing so much faster, _she thought, _but then I risk loosing it and I'd have to go through this mess all over again_. She heard the growl behind her and realized she had slowed her pace while debating. She summoned what little energy she had left and pushed forward. At that moment, the black mass with the two glowing, yellow eyes came skidding onto the path throwing leaves into air. It slid over the path and crashed into a nearby tree with a crack. It didn't slow down a bit as it dug its claws into the soft earth propelling itself with surprising speed after its prey. White strings of slobber dangled from its jaws.

The light was getting closer in the darkness. She was almost there. Suddenly, two tall figures emerged from the shadows and onto the path in front of her. They blocked the moonlight, darkening the tunnel between the trees. In an effort to stop, she fell back and slid into the silhouettes.

"Keep running!" The shorter of the two figures called out to her. He cocked the sawed-off in his hands and took aim at the approaching creature.

"No!" She cried. "You have to run."

"Don't worry, we know what we're doing. We'll explain later. Now, go." The taller figure assured her, giving her a hand to help her to her feet.

"You don't understand." She took the man's hand and pushed upward with her legs. They were so tired, but she had to keep going. "Shooting it won't work! We have to run!" The men glanced at each other with puzzled looks strewn across their faces. "Run!" She yelled again. She pushed passed the two men, continuing up the path towards the clearing. _They're not taking my warning. Fine then, let them figure it out for themselves. It's not my fault if they want to be dense._

The taller man shrugged and took off after her while the other fired at the creature, quickly discovering the young woman's point. He'd hit the creature dead on, but it didn't even flinch. He spun around following the path after the others.

_It's got to be close_. _I could have sworn this was the direction that I came from._ She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and knew that she couldn't hide if she had in fact been mistaken. It could find her no matter where she hid. If she'd gone the wrong direction, she had to find a way to kill it.

Just as she thought her legs would give out on her if she had to go any farther, she came to the clearing. From behind a dead bush, she pulled out a crossbow, arrows and a jar of dark liquid. She quickly dipped the tip of an arrow in the liquid and armed the bow. "Get out of the way." She ordered as the tall brunette ran into the clearing. Seeing the determined look in her eyes, the man didn't question her orders.

"Dean, down!" He called out. The other man hit the ground shy of the entrance to the clearing just as she let loose the dripping arrow. It struck the creature square in the chest as it leapt towards Dean, falling just inches away from where he lay, shaking the ground around it. Dean rolled away as the creature tried to get to its feet only to fall to the ground again.

"Who are you?" asked the taller man.

"That's a great question." Dean called from the forest floor. He rose to his feet dusting off the dirt and leaves from his worn leather jacket.

"I'd thought you'd know a fellow hunter when you saw one." She smirked as she grabbed a machete out from underneath the brush piled up against a tree trunk that surrounded the clearing. "Riley Cadence is the name. It's a pleasure to meet you…"

"Sam Winchester" He extended a hand; the common gesture seemed out of place given the circumstances.

There was a flash of recognition in her hazel eyes. She quickly hid it and grasped the brunette's hand before the boys could notice. His large hand consumed hers as she shook with a wavering confidence.

_He's cautious. But, he's got every right to be_, Riley thought.

"What the hell was that?" Dean walked towards Sam as he pulled twigs and pieces of dead leaves out of his short light-brown hair. The blood from the cuts on his face accentuated the green in his hazel, adrenaline-filled eyes.

"Haven't you ever seen a vampire before?" the female retorted as she sauntered over to the struggling creature.

"Never one like that. Was it even human?" Riley lifted the machete, bringing it down in one fluid motion severing the head of the vampire from its body.

"No. It was, at one point, a dog. The vamps turned it. Guess they wanted a pet." She cleaned off the edge of her blade on the fur of the animal and tossed the machete towards her crossbow. She picked up the head its snout was contorted in an eternal snare revealing the enlarged fangs. "Not really something I'd want to have licking my face." She threw it to the center of the clearing inside a ring of large rocks that she had placed there before her run.

"Yeah, me neither." Dean made gagging sound as he heard the hollow thump of the severed head hitting the ground. Riley grabbed the fur from the shoulder of the beast and dragged it to join its head. Sam realized what she was doing and began to gather the dry leaves and twigs from the area, tossing them onto the corpse. He motioned for Dean to do the same.

A muffled version of Black Dog began to play from behind the dead bush where Riley stashed the crossbow. She ran over to it and produced a faded, beat up gym bag. She dug around her bag searching for the source of the music. Ignoring the curious glances the brothers were exchanging behind her, she had found her phone between the folds of her favorite navy blue hoodie and next to her taser gun. The left corner of her full lips lifted up into a smirk as she read the name on the caller ID.

"So you're still alive, eh partner?"

"Haha. Very funny." The husky voice on the other end retorted. "Apparently you are too. I never thought you'd have made it past those nasty dogs."

"Their bark was worse than their bite. Why don't you come around and pick me up? I have some new friends to introduce you to." She hung up before the voice had a chance to respond. She ran her free hand through her long locks, pulling it back from her face. She could see Dean taking his bag off his shoulder. He set it on the ground, opened it and reached inside. Riley straightened, she had let her guard down and turned her back on these two suspicious hunters she had just met.

As she put her cell phone in her back pocket, she reached for the .45 that was tucked in the waist of her blue jeans. She couldn't get a read on Sam causing her to be on edge, but she could hear that Dean didn't like what was going on. She had to be extra cautious until she was sure that they were truly on her side.

"Who was that? Your boyfriend?" Dean laughed. She relaxed her grip when she saw that he pulled out a can of gasoline. He tossed it to Sam and got pack of matches from the local motel out of his jacket pocket.

"Your partner?" Sam questioned, hoping Riley would ignore Dean's typical comment. He unscrewed the cap off of the gas can and poured its contents onto the mixture of twigs, leaves and vampire corpse.

"Kind of. I met him on a hunt out in Maryland. Nasty Siren. Anyway, he was pretty good so I let him tag along." Dean lit a match and tossed it into the pile. It was enveloped in flame; the stench of burning wood, fur and flesh filled the air. "That should burn down in no time," she capped the jar of dead man's blood placing it carefully in her bag along with the crossbow and arrows. She bent down to grab her machete and shouldered her bag. "This is the way out," she called to the men as she headed through a small path that lead the way back to the main road passing by the woods. They weren't far, but she knew it wouldn't be long before her lead-footed cohort would be passing by their location.

"Are you sure it's her?" Dean asked when Riley was out of hearing range.

"Yeah, pretty sure. I haven't had a vision since you shot Yellow Eyes so I _think_ I'd remember the face of the girl in the first one since then." Sam bent down to pick up their bag and headed out after Riley.

"I sure hope you're right about this" Dean mumbled under his breath as he followed his younger brother.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm sorry it's taken so long to get the next chapter up. My beta's been super busy and we can't seem to get the computer to work with us long enough to send the links back and forth. Anyway, I've decided to post the next chapter. It hasn't been beta'd yet, so please excuse any mistakes. I'll edit it with the beta'd version when I get it. Thank you all so much for your patience.

I've updated with the beta'd chapter

_**Ch 2. Meeting at Midnight**_

As they emerged out of the woods, they could hear the distant sound of a motor and saw a single headlight approaching from the north. Mere seconds later, a black Suzuki DR-Z400 squealed to an abrupt stop. The trio coughed as they tried to swat away the smoke that had encircled them.

"Nice entrance." Riley scrunched her nose as she caught the smell of the burnt rubber.

The motorcyclist, clad in dark leather, removed the shiny, ebony helmet to reveal shaggy blonde locks and piercing blue eyes. "As always," he met the brunette's unimpressed gaze. "Who are these guys?" He nodded towards the flabbergasted men standing at the mouth of the woods.

"That's Sam and Dean Winchester. They decided to be more than fashionably late to the party."

"It's a shame they missed it. It was a blast." The fair-haired man lowered the kickstand on the bike and proceeded down the sloped terrain towards his new acquaintances. His leather biker boots squeaked as he walked.

"Gentlemen, this is Kale Magnum. He's leans towards the flashy, non-practical side of things, hence the bike and the 'look-at-me-I'm-so-cool' entrance. Other than that he's a half-way decent hunter and a somewhat tolerable guy."

"Thanks for the flattering introduction, Rye" Kale glanced at her over his shoulder. He couldn't help but smile at the spunky brunette. He loved when she acted tough to hide her sweet, loveable interior. She reminded him so much of Aaden when she did that. He turned back towards the brothers, extending a hand. "Despite what she says I'm not all that bad; just a guy who loves to have fun. There can't be anything wrong with that now, can there?"

Dean gave the guy a once-over. He was about his height, most likely in his mid-twenties with shaggy blonde hair that reminded him of his brother's. His tanned skin made his smile appear to be incredibly white, like the smiles of those people in gum commercials. He half expected to see his teeth sparkle. Kale looked like he should be wearing swim trunks, carrying a surfboard and calling everybody "Dude" while giving them the hang loose sign instead of being clad head to toe in hog gear. "No of course not." Dean smiled at him as he grabbed his hand and gave it a firm shake. "I'm Dean. This is my brother, Sam."

"So _you're_ Sam Winchester." Kale said as he shook Sam's hand. "You certainly have some of the hunter population talking."

"You hear that, Sam?" Dean laughed in an effort to cover his fear. "Are your ears ringing?"

Sam's heart skipped a beat. His palms became sweaty and he swallowed hard. "What exactly are they saying about me?" _Had Gordon managed to turn more hunters against me? Are they here to finish what he started?_

"Don't look so worried, Sam. It was just some whack job that was going around saying that you were part demon or something. Hardly anyone believed him. Anyways, I heard you took care of him when he started craving blood." Kale put his hand on Sam's shoulder. From the look on Sam's face, Kale could have sworn that Gordon was right about Sam. _No way_, he thought, _with everything these two have devoted to this life there's no way they'd be rooting for the away team._ He shook the thought from his head and his gaze rested on a black 1967 Chevy Impala inconspicuously parked across the road. "Is that your car?"

Taken by surprise at the sudden change of subject, Dean paused a beat before answering. "Yup. That's her."

"She's beautiful."

"Thanks, I rebuilt her not too long ago." Dean beamed over his precious possession, soaking in the envy that radiated off of Kale.

"I'd hate to interrupt this male bonding, but I'd like to go back to the room and have me a nice shower before hitting the sack." Riley was covered in dirt, leaves and who knows what else. All she wanted to do was to relax in a nice warm bath then curl up in her motel bed.

"You're both gonna ride back on _that_?" Sam pointed towards Kale's motorcycle. It was hard for him to imagine the two hunters _and_ their bags fitting on the bike without falling off. Riley didn't seem like the biker type, but her looks could have fooled you. For the first time that night, Sam was able to actually see her. She was in her early twenties, about 5'4, with pale skin that seemed to glow in the light of the full moon. Her dark brown hair hung straight, just past her mid-back and there were shorter strands - pieces of her bangs, he guessed - that dangled around her face getting caught in her long lashes. Her eyes were hazel changing from blue to green. It was a color that reminded him of seawater, the kind so clear that you could see straight to the ocean floor. Her dark blue jeans hugged her hourglass figure and a strip of her flat midriff showed between the top of her lo-rise jeans and the bottom of the Led Zeppelin tee she was wearing. _Dean will appreciate that_, he thought.

"Like I said before, Kale doesn't believe in practicality. And if he didn't need the speed and maneuverability through the trees, we would have taken my car. But it's not so bad for short trips. Thank goodness the motel is close." She motioned for Kale to get on the bike and walked up to the road.

"You guys stayin' at the Raywood Motel on Main Street too?" Dean laughed. It was the only motel in this speck of a town - if you could even call it that.

"How'd you guess? Hey, you guys want to stop in at the bar for a few drinks?" Kale was still filled with adrenaline from the hunt and knew he'd need a few before he could even think about trying to sleep. "Last call's not for another hour or two. We can drop Riley off then take your beauty. What d'ya say?"

"I'm in," Dean opened the driver's side door of the Impala, eager to show off his baby to an admirer, and turned face his brother on the other side. "What about you, Sammy?"

Sam was tired, but wasn't about to let his brother risk getting pulled over for a DUI. All they needed now was for some small-town cop to run his prints and find that he's pulled over a dead fugitive wanted by the FBI. "Sure, I could use one. We'll follow you."

Sam and Dean got into the sleek vehicle, the doors squeaking as they shut them. Kale hopped on the bike and Riley sat behind him with her arms reaching around his waist. Both engines turned over with roars that could wake the dead, followed by the peeling out of the motorcycle as it turned around towards Main Street. The Impala gunned after it, with the sounds of the James Gang's "Walk Away" blaring from its stereo.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Ch 3. Ghosts of the Past**_

Howie's was half a mile south of the Raywood Motel. From the outside it was a typical bar, complete with neon signs of Flamingos and beer mugs. The interior of the bar was covered in dark, wood paneling that screamed 1975, while the jukebox at the entrance hinted at its sock hop past. The standard macho bar types were littered around playing pool and darts; they all wore flannel and suspenders instead of stereotypical leather vests.

The three men found an empty table in a dark, abandoned corner of the bar, out of the way of curious glances. They slid into the empty booth just as the bubbly waitress hopped up to their table.

"What can I getcha gents?" she asked as she twirled what was left of her pencil in her curly, blond hair.

"Uh, I'll have a Guinness." Kale replied with a smile.

"I'll take whatever you recommend, sweetheart." Dean answered coyly.

"A rum and cola for you then, stud." She giggled. "And for you tall, dark and handsome?" she asked as she turned towards Sam.

"I'll just have water," he looked past the spirals of golden hair at her nametag. "Thank you, Molly."

"You're welcome, dear." She wrote the final order down and tucked the pencil behind her ear. "Those are comin' right up."

"Water?" Dean laughed as Molly skipped her way to back the bar. "Water, Sam. Are you serious?"

"Let the man drink what he wants." Kale raised a hand in Sam's defense.

"Well, if you two are gonna be drinking for the next two hours, we need someone who's sober enough to drive back to the motel without getting pulled over." Sam retorted. He laughed at his brother's confused response to his logic.

"I'd have found a way to get us out of it. These cops here aren't the brightest badge in the glove box."

"Sure, you just keep telling yourself that, Dean." Sam shook his head. They were raised to keep out of the laws' way as much as possible, considering that their line of work wasn't as law abiding as they would have hoped, but they weren't used to being dead fugitives.

"Here ya are." Molly cut in and passed the drinks around the booth. "A pint of Guinness for Mr. Harley, a rum and cola for Mr. Smooth, and a nice, cold, ice water for Mr. Designated Driver."

"Thank you." Sam gave her a sheepish smile as she set the sweaty glass down in front of him.

"If you boys need anything else you just say the word." Molly turned and hopped back to the bar. She was eager to pick up the conversation she was having with the bar tender prior to the boys' arrival.

"So, you're John Winchester's boys," Kale started up after Molly was out of earshot. "If you boys are half as good as he was then you're better than most hunters out there. That's some legacy to uphold. He was a great man and a brilliant hunter. I'm sorry he left us so soon." He hung his head and twirled the bottle around on the tabletop. The wet rings left behind from the amber bottle's condensation caught the colored lights that hung near the ceiling.

"Yeah, he was something else." Dean took a swig of his concoction and wished it were stronger.

"How did you get started in the business, Kale?" Sam attempted to fill the awkward silence and hoped he hadn't trampled over a sensitive area in the blond hunter's past.

"How else does anyone get started in this line of work?" Kale laughed as he spread the water around the surface of the table, making intricate designs that slowly faded away. The smile across his face faded and his eyes became distant; images of the past flashed through his mind. "It was my brother." He confessed with a sigh.

Dean failed to hide the chill that ran down his spine as he processed those words. Neither of the men noticed.

"It was the end of spring break and I'd promised him that I'd take him out hiking before he had to go back to school. He was sixteen, the youngest of us three boys; my mother's baby. She was so worried that something would go wrong - that we would get hurt or lost - but she was our mom. It's her job to worry. Our dad kept telling her 'Kale's eighteen now, he's old enough to take care of himself and his brother out in those woods.'" Kale smiled at his poor imitation of his father. The man had had an authority in his voice that Kale could never possess.

"It was our third day out. We would have been on our way back home the next day. Aaden was tired, so we made camp for the night not far from a small pond. There were so many bugs around that the poor kid was covered in mosquito bites before we finished putting up the tent. I went out to gather some dry wood for a fire and he stayed behind to make the fire ring. I was gone maybe two minutes, tops when I saw it. Something moved through the bushes. It was only a flash, but I was sure I saw something.

"By the time I got back to camp, Aaden was hanging by his feet from one of the Redwoods. That monster had cut him up and left him there. It was only after I had started to get him down that I'd realized it was a trap.

"That thing, that Wendigo, it was smart and so fast. I don't know how I did it, but somehow I'd managed to get him in the heart with my knife. By the time I got Aaden on the ground it was too late. He'd bled out. My family never forgave me. My parents won't even talk to me. My older brother's the only one that can stand to look at me for more than five minutes. They all think I'm crazy. I mean, how could they believe that some supernatural creature, some monster, killed their son?" Sam and Dean turned away at the rhetorical question. They knew all too well how society reacted to the nightmares they hunted every day.

"I don't know why I was lucky enough to survive the attack. I got out with a few minor scratches, but Aaden, he lost his life. I think about that _every_ day. Why was _I_ the one who got to live? What makes _me_ so special? Aaden was good person; he was young, smart and had his whole life ahead of him. Me…I'm just, just," he sighed. All the tortuous feelings of that day flowed through him again. His hands clenched into fists and he banged them on the edge of the table. "I couldn't let his death go un-avenged. That's when I decided that it was up to me to keep this from happening to anyone else. I'd fight the monsters lurking in the shadows no matter what it took. I'd make it up to Aaden. I'd make him proud." Kale choked back the tears. He struggled to keep down the lump that had developed in the back of his throat. "Well, that's my sob story. I'm sure every hunter has their own version of it. Even Riley, but she refuses to talk much about it."

Kale's last statement piqued Sam's interest. _Why would she not talk about it?_ He wondered. _It can't be _that_ bad, can it?_

"That Riley, she's something else, isn't she?" Dean latched on to the subject change. He'd had enough of thinking about what could be and would rather talk about the attractive, young brunette he'd met earlier. "How did you guys meet?"

"Well, actually I was told to go after her. I had no idea who she was or what she even looked like, but I was supposed to follow her on a hunt. You boys know Ellen Harvelle, right? Harvelle's Roadhouse?" Kale questioned.

"We sure do." Dean confirmed. Sam nodded in agreement.

"I'd been a regular there for about three years. It was where I'd learned the most about hunting and how _not_ get yourself killed. One day I go in for my afternoon drink and Ellen and Jo are arguing, which was nothing new. All of the sudden Ellen turns to me and tells me to make myself useful and go out and keep Riley safe. She'd gone off on a hunt after a Siren in Maryland. Jo was sore because Ellen allowed _Riley_ to go but wouldn't let her go even though Riley was younger and practically Jo's sister."

Dean laughed. The Winchesters had been pulled into the middle of one of Ellen and Jo's fights before and it was not a pretty sight.

"Anyway, I did what I was told, mostly because I was afraid of what would happen if I disobeyed Ellen. I found Riley right smack in the middle of a bar fight. Someone had touched her or said something wrong to her and it got her all worked up. I got her out of it by saying I was her boyfriend – not a cool thing to do with her by the way. She kept trying to get rid of me after that. Apparently I'm "not her type", but that sure didn't stop her from saving my butt from that Siren. She was pretty good for a kid. Seventeen, on her first hunt and she had no problem taking that Siren down on her own." Kale paused and drained the last remnants of his bottle. He called Molly over to the table and ordered another round of drinks for the group.

Sam spent the rest of their time in the bar in his own world, pondering his vision of Riley and what it meant now that he had some insight to her history. Dean and Kale continued downing round after round of various ales until last call.

------

Thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate it!

_**In case you guys are curious, the part where Kale says he killed the Wendigo with a knife I got from __The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons, and Ghouls. In the section for Wendigo (pg.85) the author states that you can kill a Wendigo by shattering it's heart with an iron or silver blade as opposed to the way they did on the show (flare gun to melt the heart of ice). So, in this case, Kale was lucky that he happened to have a knife made of iron_.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Ch. 4 Hellfire**_

The room was dark aside from a faint glow coming through the sheer curtains that covered the window. A dark figure blocked some of the light. It appeared to be standing over something, a kind of railing. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Riley could see another figure enter the room. A woman. She couldn't hear what was being said, she only saw her lips moving as if in slow motion.

_She looks so familiar. And so does this room, but _where_ do I know them from?_

Suddenly, the figures were gone. The room went hot and was engulfed in bright flames. She could hear the crackle of the fire on the floor boards as the heat scalded her skin. Screaming surrounded her. Cries of pain and torment, yet she was the only one around. Alone in a sea of fire, drowning in the smoke and fumes, burning in its waves.

_You can do it, Riley. _A familiar voice whispered in her ear. She looked over her shoulder to find who the disembodied voice belonged to, but there was no one there, just darkness in the areas where the fire's light could not reach.

_You can get them out._

Again, Riley turned to search for the origin of the voice. This time she those haunting, yellow eyes stared back at her.

Riley awoke with a start. She sat up on the bed, her heart still racing. She could her the fast-paced beating in her ears. The room was dark. The only light was coming from the red glow of the alarm clock and the only sound was the nasally snores coming from the couch. Her skin glistened with sweat; her long dark hair was matted to her head. She could still feel the heat of the blaze around her. She shivered, pulling the sweat-soaked sheets up to her shoulders.

_It was just a dream. Well, more like a nightmare, but it wasn't real._ She told herself. She remembered that she was in the Raywood motel's badly decorated honeymoon suite since her and Kale were posing as newlyweds. Plush red pillows adorned every corner of the room and the furniture echoed in various shades of red.

Even though Kale's snores comforted her, she still couldn't shake the unsettling feeling of the nightmare. She had to get out of the room. She threw the damp sheets aside and stepped out of the queen-sized bed onto the thick shag carpet. She quickly slipped on her track pants and tennis shoes and headed into the crisp air outside for a run.

- - - - -

_Why did it come back now?_ She wondered. The light wind that blew across her face calmed her as she ran in the faint moonlight. _It's been almost a year since I've had it. And why did it change? I've never seen that room before. At least, I don't think I have. Who _was_ that woman? I know her, but I can't remember –_

The shrill cry of a horn brought her back from the depths of her mind. Headlights blinded her. She realized she had found her way into the middle of the usually deserted highway. Tires squealed as the car swerved to avoid her. The driver didn't bother to stop to see if she was all right. The car continued down the road as if nothing had ever happened. She shook the shock from her head and decided that it was time to head back to the motel. As soon as she was out of the street she allowed her mind to slip back to the burning questions of her dream.

_I did what he asked. I found Sam, well he found me, but still it's what he told me to do. But what's all this talk of "getting them out"? And why is he in my dreams? He's gone!_ Tears of frustration filled her eyes. _I _swore_ I wouldn't do what he wanted and now look what's happened. Does he talk to Sam too? Is that how he found me?_

The terrain changed from soft dirt to asphalt. She had arrived in the motel's parking lot just as the sun began to peek out over the horizon. The glow in sky over the tops of the trees reminded her of the vivid fire she'd experienced only an hour earlier. She dug the key out of the pocket in her shoe and entered the room. A hot shower would make her feel better.


	5. Chapter 5

I am so sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Winter break was busier than I thought and school's already kinda crazy. I've also had hard drive problems that still have yet to be fixed. So, out of guilt I am posting the unedited version of Chapter 5. It hasn't been beta'd so please forgive any mistakes either in spelling, grammar or if things just don't make sense. I hope everyone's had a wonderful holiday season and is enjoying 2009! Thanks for reading!

**Ch. 5 Rise And Shine, It's Hunting Time**

It was still dark in the Pioneer themed motel room when Sam Winchester cracked open his eyes. The digital clock read "5:30am" and the first rays of sunlight danced just above the treetops.

He was still tired, but he knew that he could catch up on his sleep on the way to their next job, whatever that would be. He sat up and swung his long legs around to the floor glancing at the still form of his brother asleep in the bed opposite his. Dean was laying on his stomach with his left arm draped over the side of the bed and the right under his pillow most likely with a vice grip on his trusty knife that he never went to bed without. _His comfort blankie,_ Sam chuckled. He could have sworn he saw a darkened drool stain spreading on the pillow just under Dean's partially opened lips, but the lighting in the room was too dim to know for sure.

_He looks beat._ Sam thought. _He had one hell of a night last night. He's not gonna be all sunshine and rainbows when he wakes up, that's for sure._

Sam quietly gathered his clothes, so he wouldn't wake up the elder Winchester and slipped into the bathroom to shower. With the comfort of the warm water on his skin, Sam allowed his mind to recall the events of the drive back to the motel the previous night.

_The announcement for last call had been made just as Dean and Kale quickly called Molly over to replenishes their drinks. The barkeep practically had to throw the two out when they refused to leave. _

_Sam swiped the car keys from Dean, despite his protests that he was "not too drive to drunk." After much deliberation, Dean had finally succumbed to sit shotgun while Kale sat in the center of the backseat where he then insisted on being a backseat driver, literally. Sam wrestled with Kale over his shoulder and finally resorted to elbowing him in the nose to get him to release his grip on the steering wheel._

_Once the Impala finally pulled out of Howie's, the rest of the five-minute drive back to the motel consisted of a very off-key performance of 'Stairway to Heaven' from the intoxicate men. Every so often one of them would make a move for the wheel causing Sam to swerve. All in all, it was a miracle they had made it to the motel parking lot alive and without any suspicious attention from the local law enforcement._

Sam toweled off and threw on some old, faded jeans, a dark blue tee, his favorite hoodie, and a beat up pair of converse then slipped out the door.

He walked the three doors down to room 116, which if he remembered right was the room that Kale staggered into a mere three hours earlier. He raised his hand to knock on the door when it opened.

"Good morning, Sam" the perky brunette smiled up at him. "I was just going to see if you Winchester boys wanted a little breakfast."

"That's just what I was coming to ask you." He laughed.

"Great minds think alike," She winked. "Why don't we go together then?" Riley closed the motel door and grabbed her keys from her pocket. "We'll take my car."

She led Sam over to the 1969 Chevy Chevelle SS parked across the lot. The white racing stripes that ran along the top of the vehicle stood out in stark contrast to the deep blue paint job covering the rest of the car's sleek body. The recent wax job reflected their surroundings almost as if it were a mirror.

"Nice car. Dean's gonna flip when he see it."

"Thanks. I got it for a birthday present. I promised that I'd take good care of her." She unlocked the doors and climbed into the driver's seat.

"You know, this may sound weird, but it looks really familiar." Sam did his best to get his tall frame into the car without bumping his head. It had been a long time since he'd ridden in anything but the Impala.

"It's funny that you mention that. You boys know Bobby Singer, right?" Riley questioned as she buckled her seatbelt.

"Well, yeah. He's practically family." Sam gave her a puzzled look. _She knows Bobby?_

"It was in his junkyard and I had had my eye on it for a while. He helped me fix it up and gave it to me for my 16th birthday." The engine roared to life, as did the radio. She quickly reached for the knob, lowering the volume. "Sorry about that. I kinda like my music loud." She pulled through the parking space and sailed down to the local diner across the road from Howie's.

- - - - -

On the way back to the motel Riley pulled into a small building off of Main Street.

"What are we doing?" Sam inquired.

"Just taking a little detour. I have to drop off a book that I borrowed from the library."

"This town has a library?!" Riley laughed as drove up to the drop-box. She rolled down the window and slid the book into the slot.

"Don't look so surprised, Sam. It has a small one. I was lucky that they had the book I needed for my paper."

"Paper?"

"I'm taking an online course on Urban Legends and Mythology. I had a research paper due this week."

Sam stared at her with a quizzical expression across his face. "You hunt _and_ take college courses?"

"Well, I was gonna have to do the research anyway. So, I figured why not get some credit for it?" Riley stated.

"Okay. But, why?" Sam partly wished he had considered the option. Then again, online classes wouldn't be the ideal way to get through law school.

"I don't know if I want to hunt my whole life, Sam. I mean, I've been hunting for as long as I can remember and I'm not sure if I want to spend the rest of my life like this. Underneath it all, I'm just a normal twenty-one year old girl who dreams of some day having a family. And I'm gonna have to support that family, which means no hunting. So, I need a backup plan," Riley parked the Chevelle in the empty space in front of her room. "Don't you ever think about what you'd do with your life if you didn't have to hunt?"

Sam inhaled sharply as the memories of his normal life came back. He had tried to get away from the horrors that most people never even know exist. He had tried his hand at normalcy: law school, a girlfriend, and the promise of a happy life. _And then I lost it all._

"Sam?" She felt his mood change and his mind grow distant. She reached out to touch his arm. "Sam."

He jumped at her touch, pulling his thoughts back to her question. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." He cleared his throat. "Let's go eat."

They grabbed the food from the backseat. Sam headed down to the room he shared with his brother and Riley headed inside room 116 to wake Kale.

- - - - -

"Wakie, wakie, Kale," she called in a sing-songy voice. "Sam and I got breakfast. Pancakes, your favorite."

Kale moaned and turned over, pushing his face into the back of the couch.

"Oh, c'mon. We have to go down to the boys' room to talk cases. Now, get up and grab the files."

Kale waved her off and pulled a pillow over his head.

"Fine then. I _was_ gonna be nice and give you some of this aspirin I picked up, but now…" She sauntered over to the back of the couch, leaned over placing her lips above where his ear would be under the pillow and whispered, "I'm done playing nice."

She pulled as hard as she could on the back of the couch, causing it to topple backwards. Kale rolled off the back end of the couch and onto the floor.

"Ow!"

"I told you to get up." Riley laughed. Kale was tangled up in the blanket at the foot of the bed. His hair was a mess and he had a light bruise on his nose. He was still in the clothes he was wearing the night before, including his boots. One of them at least. "Looks like _someone_ had fun last night."

"Oh yeah," he grunted as he pulled himself off the floor and found his way out of the blanket.

"Here," she threw the small bottle of aspirin at him. He caught it with one hand and quickly opened it, dispensing two pills. He tossed his head back as he swallowed them.

"Thanks, Rye. Dean'll probably need those now." He tossed the bottle back to Riley then slowly turned to get the files. "Here. You can take those"

"Geez, you need to brush your teeth." She grabbed the files with her left hand as she waved her right in front of her nose for effect. "Seriously, Kale. You do that and I'll meet you in their room. It's number 113."

Kale rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath as he walked into the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the bright florescent lights.

- - - - -

Sam stepped into the dark room. Not much had changed since he left. Dean was still in the same position only this time the dark stain had grown under his mouth. He set the food down on the table in front of the window and opened the blinds.

"Dude!" Dean called out as the bright light flooded the room. He squinted and shielded some of the light with his arm; sunlight glinted of the surface of the blade he was still firmly holding. "How about a little warning next time."

"I'll try to remember that." Sam set Dean's coffee down on the nightstand.

"What's that smell?" Dean sniffed the air, and then took a sip of the warm liquid. "Pancakes? Dude, you got me breakfast in bed! That's so considerate of you, Sammy"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Dean, but you don't exactly get to eat it in bed. We've got company coming, so get dressed." Sam took the to-go boxes out of the plastic "Thank You" bag and set them out around the table. He enjoyed the feeling of normalcy this gave him. Finally having a meal at a table that wasn't located in some bar or diner, even if they were eating with plastic utensils. He heard the bathroom door click shut followed shortly after by a knocking on the door.

"Come in, Riley." He set out the plastic wrapped sets of plasticware and napkins.

"Wow, you're really going all out. You've set the table and everything." She pulled out a chair and set the files on the tabletop. "I feel like I'm at the Ritz."

"Well, it's not everyday we get to have guests." Sam laughed as he took a seat next to her. She handed him the manila folder overflowing with newspaper clippings and police files that had been collected over the past few weeks. He started to thumb through the papers. "And it's even more rare for us to have business meetings."

Dean emerged from the bathroom in a pair of ripped jeans and a light gray t-shirt, which accentuated his muscular chest. The golden amulet that hung from his neck reflected the light. "Mornin' Riley," he winked. He saw a familiar blonde through the window and waved him inside.

"Morning, Dean. I've got something for you." She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the aspirin, tossing it his way.

"Thanks," he took two pills and joined the feasting trio at the table. "So what have we got?"

"There's only two possible cases that we've found nearby," Kale started with a full mouth; pieces of pancakes stuck to the corners of his mouth. Riley threw him a disapproving look. He swallowed and wiped his mouth with his sleeve before continuing. "That first clipping there. Rye and I think there's a rawhead in Santa Fe. Numerous children have gone missing all within a five mile radius."

Sam peered up at Dean from the article. For a split second he could see the pale, sickly face of his brother who'd checked himself out of the hospital after taking 100,000 volts on their last rawhead hunt. "Santa Fe's kinda far. Is there anything closer?"

"Well, there's a string of strange deaths in Las Vegas," Riley answered.

"Oooh, Vegas," Dean raised his eyebrows. "I vote Vegas."

Sam rolled his eyes. "How strange?"

"Three victims have died from myocardial infarctions…"

"Heart attack," Sam told his brother.

"Dude, I know what the medical term for a heart attack is. I'm not an idiot."

"…with no prior heart conditions." She continued. "They all had a clean bill of health when they died."

"The only problem was that they were dead," Kale chimed in. "So whatdya boys think? Should we hit up Vegas?"

"Heck yes!" Dean cried out before he shoved a forkful of pancakes into his mouth. Sam nodded in agreement. There was no point in arguing with his elder brother. "Do you think we'll see Grissom?"

"Or Catherine?" Kale joined excitedly. "Mmmm…Catherine."


	6. Chapter 6

Again, this chapter is unbeta'd so please forgive any mistakes. Thanks for reading!

**Ch. 6 Highway to the City of Sin**

The caravan traveled down US-95, the Chevelle in the lead followed by the Suzuki; the Impala brought up the rear. They had crossed the California-Nevada border two hours earlier and still had about four hours of drive time ahead of them with the pace Riley was keeping.

"Man, I still can't _believe_ she got that car," Dean whined over Foreigner. "I had my eye on it ever since I saw it in Bobby's yard. He told me _I _could have it too."

"Well, then Dad gave you his car and you didn't need it anymore," Sam reminded.

"So, it's the principle of the thing. I called dibs first so Bobby should have at least _asked_ me if it was okay before giving_ her_ the car. She doesn't even drive her right." Dean pouted.

"She's making pretty good time, actually." Sam looked up from the map he was studying. "She's taken what should have been about a nine hour drive and cut it down to about six. I'd say that's pretty good driving. Although with your lead foot on the gas, we'd probably have made it there in four." Sam dug his cell phone out of his pocket and began flipping through the numbers in his contact list.

"That's _exactly_ my point. Hey, who're you callin'?"

"Ellen. Would you turn the music down?" Sam knew better than to mess with Dean's stereo. Dean obliged, cocking an eyebrow at his brother.

Sam ran through what he was going to ask in his head when a familiar voice picked up the line. "Hello?"

"Hey Ellen, it's Sam."

"Sam," her raspy voice full of warmth. "It's so good to hear from you. You're not in any trouble are you?"

Sam cracked a bright smile. _She knows us better than I thought. _"No, Ellen. We're fine. I do have some questions for you about a hunter we ran across."

"Well, I can't promise that I'll know him, but I can sure try to help you out. Who is it?"

"Her name is Riley Cadence. Have you ever heard of her?" There was silence on the other end. "Ellen?"

"Yeah, I know her. What is it you wanna know?" her tone was guarded.

"Just a little more about her past. Kale Magnum told us how they met and everything that's happened since but,"

"So Kale's still with her. I'll be damned, that boy sure does listen well when he's threatened." She laughed. "I'll bet that he's the one that led you to me?" She continued on before he could answer her question. "Sam, I can't tell you much. Riley's a private girl so if you want to know that bad I'd suggest asking her about it. What I _can_ tell you is that your father brought her to us when she was a little over 6 months old. John said she had no family and needed to be looked after. Jo was just a few years older so Bill and I agreed to watch her for a while.

"She was never ours really and none of her family ever came looking for her. So, when a young couple, hunters, volunteered to take her off our hands for a few months we couldn't argue with them. Riley traveled with them on their hunts and they taught her what they could until they decided that they wanted out of the business to start their own family. They brought her back to us. Somehow Riley became a foster child of the hunting world. Hunters would stop by and say they needed an extra hand on whatever odd job they were working and they'd take Riley along with them. In return, they'd care for her and show her the ropes. She was eager to learn about the business, always asking questions just like Jo was. I couldn't shelter her though." Her usually tough voice broke sounding softer and more tender than Sam had ever heard it. "Eventually she was old enough to go out on her own, and who was I to stop her? That's when I sent Kale out after her."

"So, my dad brought her to you? Why?" Sam never remembered the girl in their childhood. _Could he have picked her up on one of his hunts? Dad would have told us about her, wouldn't he?_

At the mention of their father Dean became more engrossed in his brother's half of the conversation.

"I can't answer that Sam. I never asked many questions about her. John wouldn't have answered them anyway. He was protective of her past, which, I suspect, is why she is that way now. You'll have to ask Riley those questions." Ellen's voice regained the strength it normally carried.

"Alright, I will. Thank you, Ellen."

"You take care of your brother, you hear me?" Ellen demanded.

"You got it." Sam hung up the phone and returned it to his pocket.

"Dude, what was that all about? Why are you asking questions about Riley when she's two cars in front of us?" Dean questioned as he raised the volume on the stereo.

"I needed to know more about her. I thought that maybe if I learned about her past, then I'd know why I'm having visions of her dying and….and maybe I could save her. It's weird, man. The visions I've had of her are so different from the ones I've had before."

Dean licked his lips. He was anxious to get off the subject of his brother's demonic visions. "So, she knew Dad?" Dean's expression was full of confusion. _That man sure had his secrets._

"Apparently he brought her to Ellen when her parents died."

"Why would he do that? I don't remember her. Do you?"

"No. I have no idea what he was doing."

"What are you gonna do now?"

"I guess I'm gonna talk to Riley." Sam looked out the window at the desert landscape flying by.


	7. Chapter 7

_Ch. 7 Even the Young Can't Stay_

"I still don't see why we couldn't stay at a nicer place, preferably one actually on the Strip," Dean whined as he slammed the trunk of the Impala. The caravan had pulled into the parking lot of a rundown motel just outside the Strip and the quartet was unloading the necessary bags.

"Because we can't risk the higher security of the larger hotels," Riley explained with a sigh. "I think they're a little bit more aware of credit card fraud than the sorry guy who owns this place."

"Don't worry, Dean. We'll hit up the Strip after we solve this case." Kale clapped the fellow hunter on the shoulder as he walked by to his bike. He threw a leg over, straddling the cycle as he pulled on his black helmet. The smell of exhaust filled the air as Kale gave a nod to Dean before pulling out of the space.

Dean shouldered his worn bag and crossed the threshold into the room he shared with his brother. "At least these rooms are a bit classier than our usual, eh Sam?" Dean laughed at the old Hollywood theme of the room. "It's like I just stepped into the 40s." He dropped his duffel on the bed closest to the door.

Sam looked up from his laptop. "Yeah, and that life-size cutout of Humphrey Bogart is kinda creepy."

Dean shuddered as he began to go through his gun cleaning ritual. "So whatdya got?"

"There's not much. Riley and Kale have pretty much everything there is. There's not much else in the obits, nothing that jumps out at least." Sam waved the local newspaper and set it back down on the bed. "I say we split up tomorrow. Riley and I can go to the morgue to check the bodies and you can go with Kale to the victims' homes."

"Sounds good to me as long as I get to go with Riley next time we split up." A mischievous grin spread across the elder hunter's face.

"That's up to her."

- - - -

Kale had to drive out to the suburbs to find a decent price for gas. He may have been getting better gas mileage with his motorcycle, but that didn't mean he had enough cash flow to shell out the outrageous amount of coin necessary to fill his tank. He wasn't _that_ good at pool.

He was heading back to the motel when he heard the sounds of a siren coming up behind him. Checking his rearview mirror, he saw the flashing lights of an ambulance. He pulled over, allowing the emergency vehicle to pass him. _Why not? I've got some time to kill._ He thought as he pulled back out onto the road.

He followed the flashing lights to El Dorado, a local neighborhood subdivision. The ambulance stopped in the midst of a crowd of people that had formed outside one of the single story homes near the entrance of the neighborhood. He parked his bike across the street from the crowd as two paramedics took off inside the home with a stretcher.

Kale slipped into the thick of the crowd unnoticed. Everyone was concentrating on the front door of the home, awaiting the return of the paramedics.

"What happened?" he asked a middle-aged woman he was standing next to.

"It's Luther Casey," she answered as she struggled to see past the tall man blocking her view. "Word is he went delirious, thought he was drowning or something. Then he just dropped dead."

The front door opened allowing the paramedics to wheel Luther out of the home. The old man was strapped in and had a breathing mask placed over his nose and mouth, but something wasn't right.

"Nothing to see here, folks," the taller paramedic called out. He was positioned in between the Mr. Casey's face and the crowd. "It's just a heart attack. You should all go home."

The paramedic who spoke turned, allowing Kale to get a glimpse of Luther Casey's face underneath the breathing mask. His mouth was frozen open and his eyes were wide with terror. _They're trying not to make a scene, _Kale realized. _Luther Casey's dead._

- - - -

The sun had just passed behind the row of cookie cutter houses as the young boy pushed against the ground, gaining speed. The grinding sound of the skateboard's wheels kept a steady rhythm as they rolled across the asphalt. The boy pushed harder and harder towards the pale ramp his father had helped him build that summer.

_I'm gonna make it,_ he assured himself just as the front wheels touched the ramp. He crouched, ready to push off of the ramp to make the jump that he'd been working on all afternoon. His feet lost contact with the rough surface of the board and he struggled to land on it without tipping over. The loud clap of his landing echoed throughout the quiet neighborhood.

"Alright!" he cried out triumphantly._ I made it! I _actually_ made the jump!_ He glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed his celebration, but there wasn't a soul in sight. "I gotta tell the guys." He pushed down on one end of the board with his foot, popping the opposite end into his hand and cradled the board under his left arm. His mom never liked it when he skateboarded into the house; it always left dirty tire tracks on the tile. He walked over to his ramp, dreading the large task of dragging the heavy contraption back into the garage. He exhaled and ran his fingers through his long sandy blond hair. _I wish Dad were home to help me._

He reached out to grab the handle on the backside of the ramp when he heard a low rumbling, a sound he heard every night while he lay sleeplessly in bed. The sound that triggered his reflexes to pull the sheets over his head and wait until it passed. His hands trembled and he tightened his grip on the handle. _It's not him. It can't be him. It's not dark yet._ As if on cue, the sky that was bright with the colors of the setting sun was suddenly enveloped in darkness. The rumbling turned into a deep growl as the darkness spread towards the boy. He saw the bright red eyes that inhabited his closet peering at him through the darkness. _It's him._

He threw down this skateboard and jumped on, pumping his right foot against the ground as fast as he could, but the shadows spread too quickly. The houses that had surrounded him were gone. There was nothing but a thick suffocating curtain of black in their place. The boy kept going. Desperate to get to the home he couldn't see. Back to the safety of his mother's loving arms.

The dark pair of eyes appeared before him, but this time they were attached to a large, muscular figure. Horns grew out of the monster's head and its boar-like face was scarred and bloody. It cracked a knowing smile that would frighten the bravest warrior as it approached the young boy. The child tried to call out for help and run, but his voice was gone and his legs were frozen in place. He could only watch as the horrifying creature that had been locked away in his closet approached.

The giant's cloven feet shook the ground with each slow, deliberate step. It could hear the child's heart racing, see the fear etched in his face and see its own image reflected in the boy's green eyes. A deep laugh escaped through its grin as it stopped in front of the trembling child.

_It's not real. It's not real. It's not real, _he told himself through shallow, rapid breaths. _He can't hurt me._ A squeal broke through the deafening silence as the monster reached out a mangled claw towards the boy's shoulders. _Kaylee_. The boy thought as the darkness overtook him.

The child disappeared below the tan Lexus RX. Its tires squealed as the driver slammed the brake pedal to the floor. The middle-aged man's comb over fell out of place as the SUV's front tires rolled over the boy's lifeless body.


	8. Chapter 8

_Ch 8 Fatal Discovery_

She pulled her dark hair into a French twist and swept her long bangs across her face, tucking them behind her ear. Checking her appearance in the mirror, she adjusted her navy blazer so the lacey top of her cream camisole peeked out. _Sexy, yet professional. Perfect._

Emerging from the tiny bathroom, she was greeted with wide-eyed stares and dropped jaws from the three men in the hotel room. _Maybe a little _too_ sexy,_ she laughed. The male hunters fumbled for words awkwardly. They didn't look too shabby themselves: dressed in dark suits, the hunters looked as if they were James Bond… if he was a police detective.

"Uh, wow Riley," Kale managed to find his voice. "You look good." Sam and Dean nodded their heads in agreement.

"Thanks, Kale. You don't look so bad yourself. I think I did a fine job with that hair cut of yours."

"I thought he was missing some hair this morning. What happened?" Dean inquired.

"Kale wouldn't let me have the bed even though it was my turn," Riley taunted as she grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand.

"She put gum in my hair when I asked if I could sleep in the bed last night," he explained.

"It wasn't your turn yet. I still have one more night to sleep in the bed."

"But I was the one on the bike for six hours!"

"Whoa! Calm down there, kids." Dean stepped in between the debate that was quickly becoming heated. "You two are worse than me and Sam. Next thing you know, you guys will be throwing punches."

"Or gum," Sam laughed.

Riley ignored the guys' comments. "You ready?" she asked Sam.

"Yeah." He opened the motel door for her and the three men watched the sway of her hips in the form-fitting pencil skirt as she passed by.

"You coming, Sam?" she called to him. His face flushed red as he followed her out the door, closing it behind him.

- - - - -

The young couple walked down the dimly lit hallway. The sound of Riley's heels echoed off the stark white walls. They had gotten into the hospital easily enough. Most of the cops were off getting their morning cup of coffee. Riley hadn't even needed to use her talents to get them in. They'd merely had to show their badges to the nurse behind the desk and she'd pointed them down the long eerie hall.

The fluorescent lights flickered, adding to the creepy ambiance of the corridor. Sam opened the swinging door marked "Morgue" and cringed at its loud creaking. _So much for a subtle entrance._

They entered a room filled with metallic tables, the back wall lined with small square doors. A pungent smell hung in the air. A man in his mid-fifties stood locking one of the small doors, his back to the hunters.

"Dr. Mackenzie?" Riley called. The man jumped around, his back pressed flat against the cold metal. "We didn't mean to frighten you. I'm Detective Lane and this is Detective Parker. We're from the Las Vegas Police Department; we need to ask you a few questions." Sam and Riley flashed their fake badges.

"Oh, don't worry dear. It's not your fault; this place gives me the creeps." He laughed uneasily. "I've been in this business for thirty years and I still can't be down here when it's quiet like this." He smoothed the front of his lab coat, composing himself. "Now what was it you needed to ask me?"

"In the past two weeks, a handful of people have died of a myocardial infarction without any prior heart conditions," Sam explained.

"Ah, you're here about the 'fear cases.'" Dr. Mackenzie smiled and turned into the small office adjacent to the wall of cubbies. "I was wondering when LVPD would find something odd about those deaths." He opened the file cabinet just inside the door and began to shuffle through various folders.

"What do you mean, fear cases?" Riley asked, peering inside the messy office.

"That's what they died of. At least, that's my theory anyway." The doctor pulled out a file folder, affixing the spectacles hanging from his neck onto his face. "Here we are." He returned to the locked doors that shielded the corpses, clicking his tongue as he searched. Sam and Riley exchanged curious glances. When he found the one he was looking for, he dug a large key ring out of the front pocket of his lab coat and undid the latch. "This is Robert Johansen. 68 years old and in perfect health, aside from the fact that he died of a heart attack thirteen days ago."

A white sheet covered a human form on the cold metal. The doctor pulled back the sheet to reveal a bald man with a pale blue complexion. Dr. Mackenzie handed the files to Riley over the lifeless body.

"So, why do you call them the fear cases?" Sam made a point to keep his eyes fixed on the kind doctor's face, avoiding the contorted expression etched on the face of the corpse.

"Aside from the looks of terror on all their faces?"

Sam nodded.

"In cases of extreme fear, it is possible to overload the heart. It's rare, but it can happen. A person with a pristine heart can suddenly drop dead if they're scared enough."

"You're saying that all _four_ people were scared to death?" Sam confirmed as Dr. Mackenzie searched for the door that contained the next victim.

Riley took advantage of Sam's distractions to further examine the case files. Using her cell phone, she took pictures of the deceased's addresses. She went through the forms of each of the four victims: Robert Johansen, 68; Carl Stevens, 52; Marissa Elliot, 30; and Luther Casey, 75, whom Kale had informed them of the previous afternoon. As she was closing the file she came across a fifth form.

"Four?" Mackenzie shook his head in response to Sam's inquiry. He now abandoned the door he had been in the process of opening and moved back to the one he had locked when they'd arrived. "I guess you haven't heard. There are five now. It seems these deaths are escalating. Whatever their cause, the victims are coming in closer to one another now. We got the last two in just yesterday, a Mr. Casey and the boy."

Riley forwarded the addresses of all five victims to Kale and joined Sam in front of another figure covered in a thick, white sheet. This time, the figure beneath the sheet was smaller.

"Benjamin O'Shea, ten years old." Dr. Mackenzie's voice was full of sadness as he pulled the sheet back from the young face. "He was brought in last night around 8, just hours after Mr. Casey. Apparently he was skateboarding in the street when the he collapsed. He was dead before the car hit him.

"I've never seen a child look so scared."

A shiver traveled down Riley's spine as she gazed upon the scratched and horror stricken face of the boy.

- - - - -

"El Dorado. Not really the kind of neighborhood you picture when you think of Las Vegas," Dean commented as he pulled into the entrance of the cookie-cutter neighborhood.

"Yeah, it's a little too perfect if you ask me; it's kinda disturbing," Kale mumbled. "There it is, up on the right." He pointed to the single story house he'd been at the day before; the large crowd that had accumulated outside was long gone. Dean pulled in front of the house and cut the engine.

"Looks kinda deserted. You think the family's here?" Dean asked as he visually scoped out the place. The shades on the windows were pulled shut and there were no cars in the driveway.

"Well, even if they aren't, we might be able to find some evidence of what happened." Kale unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of the passenger's seat.

Dean knocked on the cherry-stained door and peered through the glass at its center. No movement came from inside.

"Maybe they're at the hospital or out making arrangements," Kale suggested as he tried to see in between the slats of the blinds in the front window. Dean turned the knob, expecting it to be locked. Instead, the door creaked open. Dean gave Kale a sideways glance as he pulled his gun from the back of his slacks.

"Hello?" he called as he stepped into the foyer. "Mrs. Casey? LVPD, we need to ask you some questions." Kale followed him in, covering Dean as he moved deeper into the entryway. Dean mimicked his partner, cautiously raising his gun as Kale moved into the decadent living room.

"I don't think she's gonna be able to answer any questions, Dean."

"Why's that?"

"She's dead." Kale approached the body from behind the couch. Her face was frozen in the same expression her husband had worn as the paramedics loaded him into the ambulance. "Man, whatever got Luther got to his wife too. We should have come back earlier."

"We couldn't have. This place was crawling with cops asking questions. We never could have gotten inside." Dean pulled out his phone and dialed 911. "Hi, I'd like to report a body at 2121 Evergreen Rd…Yeah, my name is…" Dean hung up on the dispatcher. "They always want your name… Hey Kale, we better go, we got company coming," Dean called into the other room as he pocketed his phone and wiped his prints from the front door handle.

"Riley just texted me the addresses of the other victims. You're never gonna believe this; they're all in this neighborhood."

- - - - -

The Impala parked across the street from a large two-story house. This particular residence looked just like every other one in the neighborhood, aside from its weed-infested lawn. A U-Haul sat in the driveway, boxes were stacked up in the garage, and two men were carrying a large couch through the front door. A "For Sale" sign stuck out above the forest of weeds.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Dean called to the middle-aged woman bent over in the lawn. She held a handful of weeds in one hand and was in the process of pulling more knee-high vegetation out of the ground with the other.

"Can I help you?" she straightened up and wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

"I'm Detective Wayne and this is Detective Kent. We're with the LVPD." Dean flipped his badge out for her to see. "We've got some questions about Robert Johansen, the former owner." She cringed at Dean's description.

"I'm Lauren Mitchell, the _former_ owner's daughter." There was bitterness laced in her tone. "I've already spoken with the police. What other questions could there be?" She bent over, grasped a large weed and pulled. Strands of her thick blonde hair fell out of the ponytail and into her face.

"Mrs. Mitchell, we're sorry for your loss," Kale stepped in. "We have new information regarding the circumstances of your father's death. We'll only take a minute of your time."

Mrs. Mitchell eyed the two men. "Alright, come on in." They followed her through the foyer and into the nearly empty kitchen. A suckering sound filled the air as Mrs. Mitchell opened the refrigerator door and offered a lemonade pitcher to the boys.

"Did your father act strangely before he died?" Dean took a sip of the lemonade and tried unsuccessfully to hide the pucker of his lips in response to its sour taste.

"He told me he wasn't sleeping well. He was having bad dreams and they were waking him up at night."

"Any health problems at all?"

"No. I'd just taken him to the doctor the week before. They said he was as healthy as a horse. They must have gotten something wrong for him to have a heart attack so soon." She focused on the kitchen tile as her brown eyes filled with tears. "We would have at least had some warning then. Maybe we could have prevented it somehow."

- - - - -

"We should have gotten here sooner," Riley reprimanded herself as she and Sam stepped out into the sunny Las Vegas morning.

"There's no way we would have known he would be the next victim," Sam said consolingly, trying to comfort the distraught brunette, though he couldn't help but feel the same guilt pull on his own conscience. The pair stepped into the parking lot and headed back to the Chevelle. As they passed the large fountain in front of the hospital's main entrance, an odd feeling came over Riley. _Something's not right,_ she thought. Her chest tightened. It was as if a cold hand had reached into her chest and grabbed her heart, and was now circulating ice-cold blood through her body.

"Sam!" she called out. He stopped and turned towards her, the guilt on his face fading into confusion.

"What's wrong?"

She searched their surroundings, examining every face until she found it: the dark blue minivan, gaining speed, heading straight for them. "Run."

The van jumped the curb, the driver haphazardly offering no attention to the poor pedestrians leaping out of the way.

Meanwhile, drivers swarmed the busy parking lot with their cars, ignorant to the danger Sam and Riley faced, thinking only of navigating their way into an open spot.

The hunters were trapped.

A menacing roar escaped the van as it annihilated the final two cars in its path, closing the distance to Sam and Riley.

Sam instinctively pulled Riley over the walls of the fountain just as the van crashed into the spot they had occupied moments earlier.

The pair peered over the wall of the fountain, water dripping from their hair. The van was lodged into the side of the fountain; water rushed out around it. The driver of the minivan lifted her head from the steering wheel. Blood dripped from the fresh cut on her forehead. Round black eyes peered out as she sneered at her would-be victims through the cracked windshield.

Suddenly, the woman's head snapped up and black smoke exploded from her mouth, leaking out the open window, leaving the woman's body slumped over the steering wheel.

Before the crowd of onlookers could grow, Sam and Riley moved towards the opposite edge of the fountain. Sam helped Riley over the low wall and the two quickly raced to the Chevelle.

"I think we have an idea of what we're dealing with now." Sam ducked into the front passenger seat, water squirting out of his clothes and shoes.

"Yeah, and they know we're onto them." Riley tossed her wet heels into the backseat and fired up the ignition. The engine purred as the Chevelle weaved out of the parking lot.

- - - - -

Kale rang the doorbell of the O'Shea residence. He eyed Dean, who was still mentally beating himself up over the death of a child on their watch.

"Dean, we need to get through this without disturbing the family. We'll find whatever did this and then we'll make it pay."

A woman with long blonde hair answered the door. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she'd been crying all night. _She probably has, _Kale thought before giving her his alias of the day. Convinced, she invited them inside to the living room.

"Did Benjamin act strange at all before he died?" Kale leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands, fighting back the emotions that would blow their cover.

"He was having trouble sleeping. He had nightmares about a monster in his closet and refused to go to sleep alone. But what would his behavior have to do with anything? I thought…I thought he was hit by a car." Her voice broke and her eyes began to tear. Dean handed her a tissue from the side table. Kale caught his gaze as Mrs. O'Shea wiped her eyes. _She doesn't know yet._

"Mrs. O'Shea –"

"Oh please Detective Wayne, call me Donna."

"Donna, it's true your son was hit by a car, but-" Dean cleared his throat as he tried to find the right words. _I wish Sam were here. He's so good at this; he'd know exactly what to say._ "He was dead before the car hit him. The autopsy showed that he died of a heart attack."

"Wh- what?" The color drained from her face. "But he's too young. He couldn't have had a heart attack. He was ten!"

"It's possible, if he were scared enough at the time…" Kale let his explanation drop off. _She doesn't need to hear any more._

She picked up the photo of her son off the coffee table and stroked his face, "Scared? Oh, Benji. My poor baby." A tear fell down her cheek and landed on the glass.

"Mommy?" a voice called from the stairway.

"Yes, Kaylee. I'm down here, honey." Donna quickly dried her eyes with the tissue.

"Mommy, where's Benji?" A young girl of about four came down the stairs, peering through the railing at her mother as she descended. Her strawberry blond hair was in tangles and there was a red spot on her cheek from where her head had rested on a pillow.

"He's not here, sweetheart." The grieving mother swallowed, doing her best to keep her composure in front of her daughter.

"Did the bad man get him?" she whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Ch. 9**__**Confrontation**_

_What did I do?_ Riley leaned against the shower wall with one arm supporting her weight. She ran her free hand through the wet strands of her hair, allowing the warm water to splash off her head and flow down her back. _How am I going to explain that little show to Sam?_ _He'll think I'm crazy._

"Great job, Riley." She pounded her head against the tiled wall. "Why do you always have to go and make things _so_ complicated?"

She turned off the water and reached for the white towel that hung off of the rack above the toilet seat. _I'll just tell him the truth. He'll at least listen to me. Maybe I can convince him not to have me committed. _She ran the soft fabric over her face when she heard the faint crooning of Robert Plant emanating from the other room.

"Crap. I forgot to call Kale." She jumped out of the shower, dripping water all over the hideously tiled floor. She wrapped the small towel around her torso and secured the loose end at her bust. _I can't believe it's still working;_ she unhooked the hardy phone from the top of her drenched skirt and quickly flipped it open.

"I know, I know. I'm so sorry I forgot to check-in," she rattled off as if she were a teenager apologizing to her overbearing parents.

"Riley, what are you talking about?" a strong voice called from the other end.

"Ellen? I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."

- - - - -

Sam ran the towel through his shaggy hair. Damp strands fell into his eyes. It had taken a while, but he'd finally gotten stink of the fountain off of his skin. _I wonder if they've ever even cleaned that thing._ He shuddered at the thought.

There was a loud bang at the door, and before he could get the towel completely wrapped around his waist, it burst open.

"What is _wrong_ with you, Samuel Winchester?" Riley stomped into the room leaving wet footprints on the carpet. "_Why_ are you digging into my past? Do you not trust me?" She bombarded him with questions, looking up at his towering face with pain filling her eyes. "I thought…I thought we were friends."

"What are you –"

"Why would you go behind my back like that? I mean, calling Ellen to find out where I came from?" She began to pace in front of him, caught up in her rant.

"I was just-"

"That's low, Sam. I _never_ would have expected that from you-,"

"Riley," Sam caught her by the shoulders, turning her towards him and looking her in the eyes.

"I trusted you," she whispered.

"Will you let me explain, please?" She gave him a hesitant nod. He let out a sigh and took a seat on the edge of his bed. "Riley, the reason I called Ellen… How do I say this?" He rubbed his brow.

"Sam, just say it. I can't get any more upset with you right now." She folded her arms over her chest.

"Okay, fine then. This is gonna sound crazy, but I, I have these visions. And I don't know exactly why I have them, but they were, in the past, always related to the Yellow Eyed Demon, and they were always of someone dying." Riley sat down next to Sam on the bed her eyes wide with disbelief. _So he does know him._

"Look, despite what Gordon said, I'm not a demon, okay. You have to believe me. I'm, well I'm one of 'the children' who was chosen by the Yellow Eyed Demon-"

But she had put her hand up to stop him. "It's okay. I believe you, Sam. But _why_ are you interested in my past? What did you want to know so badly that you couldn't just ask me?"

"You mean, you don't think it's odd that I have death visions?"

"I've come across weirder things."

"I guess you would have." He smiled.

"Stop stalling and tell me why," she insisted. "Did you think I was gonna lie to you or something?"

"I couldn't risk it. I figured if I asked the people who knew you, it'd at least give me an idea as to whether you were lying or not. But forget that, I _should_ have asked you first and I'm sorry." He gazed at her with puppy dog eyes. "The reason Dean and I came looking for you is because of those visions. I hadn't had one since we killed Yellow Eyes. That is, until I had one of you."

Riley's eyes grew wide with comprehension. "Sam, are you saying that you saw me _die_?"

"Don't worry. We're not gonna let that happen." He turned his body to face her. "But that's why I had to find out about you. About where you came from. I had to know what the connection was. Why I was seeing you die. I wasn't sure if it had to do with you or…"

"Or what, Sam?"

"Or if it was _how_ you died." He paused to see how she'd react. _She's coping better than they normally do._

Riley took a deep breath. She didn't want her voice to betray her strong front. "And how exactly is that?"

He stared at their bare feet, noticing how much paler her skin was next to his. "I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure it was a demon. I only saw flashes." He closed his eyes trying to recall the images. "I saw you in the forest with the vampire dog. Then I saw you up against a wall. Covered in blood."

She cringed as a chill ran down her spine.

"There was a white light and then that was it."

They sat in silence for a moment, each lost within their own thoughts.

"So, what do we do now?" Riley broke the silence.

"Keep you away from any demons and try to figure this out."

"Sam, I'm sorry." She wished she could tell him more, but it wasn't the right time for that.

"You can trust me, Riley." He placed his large hand on her bare shoulder. "We'll get through this. We always do."

Suddenly, the door flung open again. This time Dean and Kale stood in the doorway; guns drawn and ready for anything. They had already searched Riley's room after they had seen the door had been left wide open. When they couldn't find her, they'd rushed to Sam's room where the door had also been left cracked open. They'd feared the worst but had never expected to find the two sitting on the bed in nothing but towels.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Ch. 10 Confession**_

Dean sat on the barstool, spinning the ring in his right hand. Sam and Kale were next to him discussing, or _trying_ to discuss, the case in the noisy bar. It was only 10 a.m., but they were in Vegas; _The city that never sleeps,_ Dean thought, o_r stops drinking, or gambling._ He could hear the dinging of the slot machines and the jingle of falling coins that someone had just won. Laughter and music filled the short auditory gaps between the incessant cracking of billiard balls.

Despite all the distractions surrounding him, Dean kept his eye fixed on the slim brunette at the bar. Riley had gone to get drinks and was having quite the time working her way through the thick crowd surrounding the entertainment at the bar. She pushed past a group of young guys who obviously didn't know their limit. The shortest one of the bunch made a pass at her, and when she ignored him he went straight to groping. _He didn't._ Dean's muscles tensed, ready to teach the punk a lesson.

He heard a loud smack and hushed murmers of the other bar goers who were witness to Riley's retort. _That's my girl._ A lopsided grin spread across his face._ He'll have a nice shiner to remind him how to treat the ladies._ While she was a small thing, she knew how to pack a punch. One that hurt. Even though he would never admit it, Dean's arm still stung from where she'd hit him earlier: Riley's patience had been pushed a little too far by his relentless teasing of the awkward situation that he and Kale had walked in on earlier.

_How dare they, those little punks, _Dean thought brusquely._ Thinking they can hit on anything with breasts that walks by. Someone needs to show them what the real world is like. And I do love teaching pervs a good, violent lesson..._

"Can you _believe_ that guy?" Riley set the four bottles on the table. "The nerve of some men. They think they can touch anyone and not have to suffer the consequences." She took a long swig out of the amber bottle.

"You sure put him in his place," Dean agreed hoarsely, hoping his voice didn't give his emotions away.

Inside, Dean could feel his anger mounting. He hurriedly reached for the beer Riley had set on the table and took a long swig. Much as he wanted to push his way toward the intoxicated pervs at the bar and take a swing at the lot of them for laying a hand on Riley, he knew starting a fight and getting kicked out of the bar was hardly a covert move. Then he and his fellow hunters would just have to find another bar, where they'd have to set up all their papers and research again, and probably still have to deal with the same kind of drunken assholes anyway. So instead, Dean gulped down the rest of his lager, fuming silently until the potent brew could work its way through his veins extinguishing the fire in his blood.

Riley watched him pensively unable to block out the waves of anger emanating from him. Dean could almost hear her mind ticking away, realizing exactly why he was reacting like he was. Before he had time to get embarrassed over the repercussions of Riley's analysis, however, Riley politely changed the subject. "So what'd I miss?"

"Not much." Sam reached for the bottle closest to him and handed the remaining bottle to Kale. "Kale was just telling me that all the victims were having nightmares in the days leading up to their deaths."

"All four vics lived in the same neighborhood too," Kale added. He shut the laptop, giving him an unobstructed view of the other hunters. "They didn't know each other, and everyone but Benji and the Caseys lived alone."

"We searched the houses for EMF, but we didn't find anything," Dean supplemented.

"According to the case flies, witnesses reported that two of the victims, Marissa and Carl, were acting crazy, talking to things that weren't there, screaming and running around just before they died." Riley flipped through the photos of the case files she'd taken with her phone.

"So you guys didn't find _anything_ unusual at the houses?" Sam questioned. "No sulfur?"

"No. There was nothing. If that demon from the hospital was there, we would have found something." Dean scooted his seat forward, allowing a tipsy blonde in a miniskirt to pass behind him. "But at the O'Shea home, the girl. What was her name?" Dean snapped his fingers as he searched through his memories. "Kaylee! She said something when she found out that her brother wasn't home. 'Did the bad man get him?'"

"Do you think she knows something?"

"We didn't get a chance to talk to her. The mom rushed us out before we could ask any questions."

"Dean, we have to talk to that girl."

"I don't think we're going to be able to. We beat the real LVPD to her house." Kale reminded. "If we show up again, we'll be spending the night in a small cell with twenty other guys."

"Riley and I can go then. She hasn't seen us yet. We can at least ask her to let us talk to her daughter. It's worth a shot."

"You'd better have some Jedi mind tricks up your sleeve, because she won't give you long. She'll already be on the edge." Dean couldn't see how his brother's gift with people could win over the grieving mother's better judgment.

Riley stopped listening to the debate over the child and tuned in to her own. _Is it worth it?_ She thought. She'd kept her secret for so long, but she couldn't see how she could solve this case without revealing it. _I can't let innocent people die just to protect myself. _"Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?" She headed for bar's entrance.

"Sure," Sam said, a little confused. He turned and followed Riley out the door. Dean looked to Kale for an explanation. He shrugged his shoulders and downed the rest of his beer.

- - - - -

Sam stepped out into the parking lot of the bar. It was decorated with cars and an overflowing dumpster.

"What's up, Riley?" He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the Nevada sun.

"Alright, Sam. I'll be honest with you."

"Wait. Honest about what?"

"Honest about my pa—"

"Well, well, well. So it is true." A voice called out from behind the dumpster. The two hunters tensed, alert and ready for anything. "The boy-King finally found his better half." A tall blonde in a leather jacket and knee-high boots emerged from the shadow of the bar.

"'Boy-King?' What are you talking about? Who _are_ you?" Riley scanned the blonde for weapons, a force of habit from her training, and tried to get a read on her.

"Keeping your blushing bride in the dark? Now that doesn't sound like a healthy relationship to me. If I were you, I'd make sure you get a pre-nup before you tie the knot."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, c'mon Sammy. Surely ol' Yellow Eyes told you about her." Riley backed away from the blonde's approach. "The queen that would stand at your side as you lead his demon army."

"Do you know her, Sam?" _Why can't I get a read on her?_

Sam let out a sigh. "Riley, this is Ruby." He quickly checked to make sure they were alone in the parking lot. "She's a demon, but she's on our side."

Shock and horror seeped into Riley's hazel eyes. She reached for the emergency canister of holy water hidden in her belt buckle. There was a hiss as the sacred liquid touched the demon's skin. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus –."

"Ow, that smarts." Ruby turned back toward the couple. Her black eyes returned to normal with a single blink. "Guess that means we won't be going out on a girl's day anytime soon. And I was so looking forward to getting a pedicure."

"Riley, it's okay." Sam tried to calm her before they garnered more attention from passersby. "She's here to help us."

"A demon!" Riley tried to keep her voice down. A homeless man in the alley across the street came out to the sidewalk to get a better look at source of all the commotion. "How can you trust a demon?"

Ruby snorted. "Because I know the things you hunters don't. Things you need to know to win this war." Ruby grabbed a strand of Riley's hair, twirling it around her finger. "And I know that you have some things you need to share with the class."

Riley fumed. Glaring into the now-green eyes of the deviant demon, she gracefully pulled her hair out of her grasp. "I was just about to, but you interrupted."

"Oh, then by all means." Ruby stepped back and gestured melodramatically towards the tall man with concern strewn across his face.

"Sam." Riley took a deep breath. "My parents, they both died in a fire when I was six months old."

"You –You're one of us too?!" Sam ran a hand through his hair. "Do you have any… abilities?"

"I have one that may help us with the little girl. If we can get the mother to let us talk to her, I might be able to see what she knows."

"But how?"

"By…." Riley hesitated, then hurried to finish her thought, to expel the anxiety rapidly building up inside of her. " By reading her mind. But I can only get the information if we ask her the right questions. She has to be thinking about this 'bad man' in order for me to see him."

"That's great! We can do that."

Riley was taken aback by his reaction. All this time she'd feared the worst, but Sam actually understood. He hadn't sent her to the nearest asylum or tried to exterminate her. His reaction was pure joy.

"What do you think you're doing? You can't stop there." Riley had almost forgotten about the prying demon leaning up against the graffiti covered bar wall. "That's not all you can do and you know it," Ruby whispered in the female hunter's ear.

"What do you mean?" Riley's relief was short-lived. Uneasiness flooded her heart and quickly spread throughout her limbs. _My dream._

"You don't think Azazel would just pick your average telepath to be queen, do you? Even if you do have some empathic tendencies, there's much more to you than that." Ruby circled behind her. "You don't have as much natural talent as Sam here, but you do have your own arsenal at your disposal. And it's a damn good one."

"I don't know what you mean." She spoke so quietly that Sam could hardly hear her.

"Let's just say you could save some demons a hell of a lot of time." She pushed a dark sack into Riley's hand. "Don't lose that. You'll need it if you want to live long enough to find out what the hype's all about."

"What—" Riley turned to question Ruby about the sack, but she was gone. "Well, that was different. She like that all the time?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Anyways, Ruby gave me and Dean…"

But Riley had tuned out. She looked back at the dumpster where Ruby had materialized from. Now, two figures stared back at her. A tall man stood beside a woman with eyes the color of the sea; their hands interlocked. Riley's heart caught in her throat. _It's her._

"Riley, you okay?" Sam followed her gaze to the dumpster and looked back to her.

"What? I'm sorry, what were you saying?" She had lifted her eyes away from the pair for only a second, but when she looked back they were gone.

"I was saying that Ruby gave Dean and me bags like this to keep a demon off our trail. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Let's head back in before they start to worry about us."

Before heading back into bar, she took one last look at the dumpster. The couple was there again, but this time they were closer to the bar's entrance. They were covered in flames, but through the blazes their faces were filled with anger and resentment.

_How could you do this to us, Riley?_ The ghostly whisper caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. _It's all your fault._

She hastily entered the crowded room before she could hear anymore.


End file.
